It doesn’t have a home gym, but this Fort Worth boys basketball team is playoff-bound
Fort Worth Young Men’s Leadership Academy, which is 17-3 and No. 19 in the Class 4A state rankings, will open the boys basketball postseason with a bi-district date with Bridgeport.
It’s a quick turnaround for head coach Hosea Lee and the program since starting 5 1/2 years ago.
YMLA is a mile away from Dunbar in southeast Fort Worth.
When it began playing sports during the 2016-17 school year, 120 boys attended YMLA and were placed in Class 5A while going against teams with an enrollment from 1,000 to 2,000 students.
The Wildcats went 3-23 overall and 2-12 in district in their inaugural basketball season.
Then they went 13-16 and 7-7 in 2018, and clinched a playoff berth. The 10 seniors on this year’s team were on the freshman team that posted a 25-1 record in 2018.
“Our seniors on this team have a very strong and tight bond,” said senior guard D’Monyae Davis. “With us growing together as a team on and off the court for the past four years, it allowed us to have the chemistry we need to make a state championship run.”
Added Lee, “Our school doesn’t recruit and we get our kids at the sixth grade level. It’s a special class.”
Davis is averaging 19 points, five assists and four steals per game.
Senior Monterrio Golightly is averaging 21 points and nine rebounds.
“The guys deserve all the recognition, it says a lot about our kids,” said Lee, who has 13 players on his roster. “We have good kids and good basketball players.”
Home sweet home
YMLA doesn’t have its own gym on campus, leaving the team looking for one in which to practice. Two miles away is McClung Middle School, where YMLA has been playing home games for the past three years.
The team may also play games at Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center and Billingsley Field House.
“The district is building us a gym, but I don’t know when it’ll be ready,” Lee said. “It’s a struggle sometimes, but we appreciate and thank the McClung coaches, principals and staff for letting us play our home games there.”
Lee said the team doesn’t practice until 6 p.m.
The players are in for long days between school and practice before finishing their homework, which makes YMLA’s success this season even more remarkable.
“It’s definitely impressive, but we have the same mentality in whichever gym we’re playing in,” Davis said.
Building up toughness
YMLA was moved into Class 6A during the 2018 UIL realignment alongside North Crowley, Arlington ISD, Fort Worth Paschal and Fort Worth Trimble Tech. The Wildcats went 7-9 in district last season, a game out of the playoffs.
“When you’re playing North Crowley, Arlington Bowie, Martin, Lamar, Sam Houston, Trimble Tech, you’re playing every single night, no games off,” Lee said. “It’s like playing in the ACC every night every time you step on the floor. 6A helped us get to where we are now. We went to war the last two years. Without it, I don’t think we’d be here. It matured us and we’re grateful for that.”
North Crowley has been one of the top teams in the state for the past 20 years.
“It was a battle night in and night out,” Davis said. “Playing against some of the best competition in the state of Texas allowed for us to find our identity. Playing 6A basketball definitely opened our eyes to different levels of competition, but it ultimately gave us an edge coming into this season.”
The only three losses this season came against playoff teams.
YMLA lost to 6A state-ranked North Crowley and 5A ranked Wyatt. It also lost by five to Crowley.
Then the Wildcats went 12-0 in District 8-4A.
“We’ve lost to quality opponents. Then we ran the table in our district,” Lee said. “There are really good teams and coaches in our district so I’m proud of what my guys have done. We weren’t picked in the top four in our district, and to us that means we were picked last.”
Drop to Class 4A
The school was shuffled into 4A during the 2020 realignment, but by then Lee and the program were convinced they were going to win district in any division.
“It didn’t matter if we were 6A, 5A, 4A, we were going to compete for a district title. That’s how strong I felt about this bunch,” said Lee, who has over 400 wins and even a state title with Gainesville. “The kids wanted district. They wanted the No. 1 seed no matter what. We wanted to be the best team in Fort Worth and we came close to it.”
YMLA won eight of 12 district games by double digits.
Now the Wildcats are seven wins away from a state championship.
Dunbar was the last team from Fort Worth ISD to go to state and win a title. Dunbar reached the tournament in 2016 and last won a championship in 2006.
“Our school has constantly been overlooked and stepped on because we’re not a traditional high school. But that ultimately fuels and drives me to lead my team to a state championship,” Davis said. “This season we took every game one at a time starting with district.
“We set out a goal to finish first in district with an undefeated record and we accomplished that. So winning the district championship is one step closer to our ultimate goal.”
This story was originally published February 19, 2021 at 5:30 AM.
